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Military Terminology

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I'd like to keep it all Marines or Army terms, I believe sometimes there are differences. (I'd ask my bro in law, but my sis is being ... somehow lately.)

So, the specific things I need terms for are:

Lookout/Watch/Etc... what's that called? Basically, in a war zone, the guy who stays up and watches, first watch, second watch. And does he do it form a lookout point, a roost, a blind (like hunters use)? What? I should know this, but I'm sure someone here does.

I know the Marines use something called a ka-bar. Is that a universal military issue knife, or is that limited to the Marines? Do people know what that is if I drop it into the story, or would the narrator need to say "I pulled out my ka-bar, standard issue military knife"? I hate being so over-explanatory.

What is it called when someone gets a medical discharge? Like, say you get your leg blown off or you get into a fight and then your company, or ballation, or whatever, helps you out by saying you "fell" or something. So you don't get in trouble. Isn't there a term for that?

And finally, when there are missiles going off, are there any good slangs for them besides rockets and missiles?

Any other fun little details about being in a war zone would be cool. I just want to pepper a couple in so my narrator sounds knowledgeable and not like a fake, but the bulk of the story will be dialogue and action. I just want to frame it properly and not come off lame.

in a squad sense. someone who is on point is watching (front or rear, im not sure) medical discharges, i think are sections, like section eight is for psychological issues. missles are called what they are, in cases like SCUD strikes.

information depends on branch. navy says things army doesnt, and so forth. as i said in a post which seems to have been eaten, i can ask people who have done ranger training, and an uncle who was in secret service and dealt with spies and so forth in germany. but i dont know how how much current, actual combat information i can find you. there are people here and on the velvet who have been, or are in iraq, they might be better to ask, privately. if you ask a whole forum, you'll probably see a lot of rehashed half truths from tom clancy.

i met and had writing classes with a squad gunner who was in iraq recently, but he was not that informative. be prepared for people who dont articulate their experiences well, also.

For the lookout, I mean the guy who is up while everyone is sleeping. There are two shifts, I believe. I know I've heard a slang for it, just can't recall.

And yeah, FUBAR, FUGAZI, SNAFU, FNG... I love those terms, but I don't want to rely on ones people know readily. I want to try and tread that line where the terms I use are fresh to most readers, but easy enough to figure out.

Like, you've learned something new, but because of context, not because the narrator says "in case you don't know what that means, allow me to establish how much I know about being in the army by explaining..." That way you get drawn in by it.

This may sound crazy, but give the Rogue Warrior series of books a try. it's fiction written by one of the founders of the Navy SEALs, and told in exactly the manner you describe up there, very matter of fact (but salty!) when terminology is explained. Also, each book has a handy glossary in the back full of military terms and foul language.

I'm pretty sure that the first one is nonfiction (or at least I know it was originally marketed that way). And the glossary in back was awesome. It was all military slang and terms just like I think you are looking for.

Lookout/Watch/Etc... what's that called? Basically, in a war zone, the guy who stays up and watches, first watch, second watch. And does he do it form a lookout point, a roost, a blind (like hunters use)? What? I should know this, but I'm sure someone here does.

Guard duty

ireLocus wrote:

What is it called when someone gets a medical discharge? Like, say you get your leg blown off or you get into a fight and then your company, or ballation, or whatever, helps you out by saying you "fell" or something. So you don't get in trouble. Isn't there a term for that?

Well, I see that this post is pretty old, so if you still need help with military terms and stuff pm me and I can give you a lot of good information. I've been in the Marine Corps over 5 years and did a 13 month deployment to fallujah back in 07-08.

I think you are referring to "Fire watch" which is for field training or combat. "CQ" charge of quaters is usually for barracks in a non training enviroment. "Staff Duty" and "Guard watch" are other related terms.

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